#campleemar

 ·       Our campers are AMAZING!

We have the best campers! Camp Lee Mar campers are from diverse ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds. They come from all over the United States, and many different countries.

 ·       We are seven weeks of awesome!

While Camp Lee Mar takes pride in our academic-related programs, we also want to make sure our campers are enjoying traditional camp activities and all the adapted special needs summer programs we have to offer. Days at Camp Lee Mar are filled with smiles, laughs, and fun! Whether our campers are in the pool, playing kickball, fishing, painting, dancing, or participating in one of the many other activities at camp, we make sure our campers are having the time of their lives! Our goal is to give the campers an amazing summer experience while working on all areas of independent living skills. Our teachers and therapists are not only found in the classrooms but also at activities, helping to generalize IEP goals during the day-to-day activities at camp. Our campers learn to fold their clothing, make their beds, shower independently, and work on dining-room skills. A seven week summer camp for children with special needs is the perfect length of time to have great fun while learning and mastering new skills.

 ·       Leadership!

The priorities and overall structure of a camp starts at the top. Camp Lee Mar’s directors not only have extensive camping experience, but also have a wealth of experience working with special needs individuals. Additionally, Ari and myself both have children with special needs.

 ·       We are… an extension of the school year – Education and Fun in one great camp experience!

Camp Lee Mar provides a very structured program with six periods in each day. The program encompasses all the traditional camp activities but, in addition, includes strong speech, social skills, academics, daily living, physical therapy, and occupational therapy programs. These programs are headed by professionals in their fields, and run by current teachers, speech therapists, and students studying each subject. As our campers move into the senior program, we begin working on skills that will assist them in transitioning into their adult life. Our older campers take part in vocational training and job skills activities, with many senior campers holding a job at camp, or moving onto the L.I.F.E. Program.  Due to these programs, many of our campers are at Camp Lee Mar as part of their Extended School Year (ESY).

 ·       Our OUTSTANDING staff!

Camp Lee Mar’s counselors come to camp specifically to be with special needs campers. They are motivated to work at a summer camp for children with special needs and are the best individuals to be working with the campers. Many of our counselors are pursuing careers in the field of special needs.

  ·       Special events!

Our campers love structure – but we also like to shake things up at least once or twice a week with some scheduled special events. Some of our summer special events include; Fourth of July celebrations, crazy hair day, pirate day, the fishing derby, international day, trips off camp, western day, carnival day, prom, and of course, special Olympics! There is never a dull day at Camp Lee Mar.

 ·       Our parents love Camp Lee Mar too!

“You cannot imagine the positive impact that you have had not only on our son, but our entire family. He now loves to read and isn’t satisfied unless he gets all his spelling words correct. His participation in sports, social programs and his academics has all improved. It is hard to believe that the 7 weeks that he spent at camp could really affect so many things. Our only regret is that we did not find out about Camp Lee Mar sooner.”

 ·       The Food!

The food at Camp Lee Mar is delicious!  We have an amazing chef and kitchen staff who assure all dietary restrictions are accommodated and our campers enjoy a healthy balanced menu.  Our staff and campers LOVE the food at Camp Lee Mar.

 ·       The Camp Facilities!

Our cabins are air-conditioned and carpeted, our Junior Olympic sized swimming pool is heated and our meals are served by wait staff family style.  

 ·       Home away from home!

We have a very high percentage of returning campers and staff every year!  Camp Lee Mar truly becomes a “home away from home” for our campers and our staff.  We love our Camp Lee Mar family.

www.leemar.com

There is nothing like Summer Camp!

So many of the conversations that we have had lately with parents revolve around helping their child gain back confidence in social skills. The past year has been hard for all of our campers and their families, returning campers and new campers. So how will a therapeutic camp program allow our campers to gain and feel confident in their social skills this summer? Keeping COVID in mind, these are the three key reasons our social skills and speech therapy programs are so successful during the summer at Camp Lee Mar, and will be beneficial considering the inability to practice social skills in person over the past 16 months;

We reinforce all speech and social skills in a naturalized setting across our camp environment. This means not only do our campers receive “classroom” speech sessions, but our speech specialists also see the campers across a range of activities in the camp program. Sometimes what a child is capable of in a therapy room looks very different in an outside social setting. Our counselors and speech specialists can reinforce and generalize needed social skills across all areas of camp life.

We follow your child’s I.E.P. goals, but we can also add family goals too! The benefit of a residential camp speech program is that we get to see how your child copes and adjusts in all settings. We get to develop social skills needed for school and home.

Camp offers a seven week, twenty-four hour a day immersive social and language skills program. Many of our campers make more social and emotional progress in the seven week camp program than they do during an academic year.

It is this functional approach that allows our campers to build their friendship circle at Camp Lee Mar. The speech staff and the counseling staff work closely together so every opportunity that arises during the day can be used as a natural social learning experience. The staff can guide our campers in their social interactions to allow them to be successful making friendships and to assist in learning the skills to maintain those friendships. That is how our campers gain such meaningful connections at Camp Lee Mar. We have parents tell us that their child has trouble remembering the names of the other students in their class at school, but after seven weeks at Camp Lee Mar their child can name all their friends and counselors from their cabin. It is amazing to watch each cabin at camp become a close friendship circle, to see the campers develop a sense of pride in their group, and their role within the group, and to see how the staff assist in facilitating meaningful camper friendships and connections. This is what makes the Camp Lee Mar experience so special for our campers. Our campers feel the sense of belonging that comes with having friends that understand them, friends that include them, and friends that are working on similar skills as they are. To have a true friendship circle within their cabin helps our campers to work on social skills that will benefit them for the rest of their school year in a fun camp environment. So when considering the potential loss of social and academic skills during COVID, what better way to help your child work on new skills than being at Camp Lee Mar!

Happy Monday!